the backstory is that jean has gotten really head shy over the years, to the point where she would run away anytime i got her collar out. lo and behold, turning this into a “trick” worked like a charm. now she’s happy and excited every time she sees her collar, and it has become one of our best recall tools.
you’ll notice i also often treat her when i take the collar off, so she wants to stick around after i remove her collar rather than bolting away from me. this is especially important since she’s a sporting dog (agility and fast CAT).
at the end are some tricks she already knows, just for fun. :)
I need to do this with my dog. She has come to believe that putting on the harness is sometimes a chase opportunity.
i highly recommend it! i started with the collar dangling from my arm/wrist, and fed her treats from that hand. at first, it was hard to get her to even approach me with the collar like that. slowly, once she was eager to come to me like that, i slid the collar down to my hand and rewarded her there several times until she was comfortable with that. then, i held the collar open in one hand, treat in the other, and rewarded her for sticking her nose through to get the treat. we’ve been practicing this trick for probably 2-3 weeks now, and she’s come a long way!